Re: [ha-Safran]: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, 1470-1960

[Michelle Margolis-Chesner]

With the BHB, they do actually check each title in hand (I have seen 
records that comment that the copy that they viewed was incomplete, 
v.1 only, etc.), which is what makes it so useful!  That's how they 
are able to point out variants in editions, etc.

Michelle

--
Michelle Chesner
Judaic Public Services Librarian and Archivist
Library of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
University of Pennsylvania

420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel:  (215) 238-1290, ext. 203
Fax: (215) 238-1540
m...@pobox.upenn.edu

RE: [ha-Safran]: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, 1470-1960

[Rettberg, Dan]

Though I use Vinograd regularly, having it at my desk, as well as other
bibliographies, I do find it lacking because of its inconsistency in the
information it provides on individual titles. If I remember correctly,
this comes from the fact that the editor based his work at least in part
on previous bibliographies and did not have each individual title in
hand when he prepared the entries. Is that still the case with the
Bibliography of the Hebrew Book at Penn, or do the editors examine each
title in hand before recording the information?

Thanks,

Dan Rettberg
Rare Book and Manuscript Bibliographer
Klau Library
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488

drettb...@huc.edu

Re: [ha-Safran]: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, 1470-1960

[Michelle Margolis-Chesner]

Hi Yelena,

We subscribe to the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book at Penn, and I 
highly recommend it for anyone doing research in the history of the 
Hebrew books.  It is much more comprehensive than standard resources, 
like Vinograd, because it often provides a detailed bibliographic 
description of the work (foliation, variants, etc.).  It could be a 
little confusing to set up (you need the NIS software to run it), it 
only works in Internet Explorer, and you have to type using the 
Hebrew keyboard (it doesn't allow me to use my own keyboard, in 
Hebrew), but I have found it to be an endlessly valuable resource - 
especially as someone who catalogs rare Hebraica that is often 
otherwise unidentifiable (lacking t.ps, etc. - they've even indexed 
authors of haskamot!).  I generally search by title or keyword, 
though, because I haven't found the other methods to be very helpful.

If you have more specific questions about it, please let me know - 
I've recommended it to librarians, faculty, and students.

Michelle
---

Michelle Chesner
Judaic Public Services Librarian and Archivist
Library of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
University of Pennsylvania
420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel:  (215) 238-1290, ext. 203
Fax: (215) 238-1540
m...@pobox.upenn.edu




---

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